mirai
by arekxandura
Summary: When a child whose hair resembles the locks of the woman you like and whose eyes' dark glare matches your own suddenly appears out of nowhere and shouts, "papa!" when he sees you, do. Not. Run. [Gruvia.]


**_mirai_** _means future._

 _light thingy for stress release. might make it a multi-chaptered story (if I get enough positive reviews too~) once i get my shit together HAHAHAHA_

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It was a regular day in Fairy Tail. Natsu was making a ruckus as always, his shouts reverberating as it echoed around the guild, his flames licking the tips of Gray's ice. Lucy Heartfilia sighed as she slumped against her chair, knowing that she would be unable to stop the two from destroying the guild. Elfman was screaming, "man, man, man!" while Evergreen threatened to turn him into stone. Lisanna was laughing, sharing a private joke with Mirajane as they met each other's gaze. In one corner, Wendy was sipping tea and eating strawberry cake with Carla and Erza, the noise around them ignored as they laughed. In another corner, Gajeel Redfox munched on a piece of iron as he watched Levy Mcgarden turn her book's page, tapping her quill against her chin in thought. Beside the iron dragon slayer was Juvia Lockser, her dark blue eyes trailing from the pieces of parchment in front of her to Gray Fullbuster.

All was well.

The twist, however, came when a young boy burst into the building, tears streaming on his cheeks. He had shaggy, dark blue hair and black eyes, and looked no older than six. His cheeks were a light shade of red, contrasting against his pale skin. The normal in Fairy Tail paused, and the guild members glanced at the crying child.

Natsu and Gray were unperturbed, however, as they continued slamming their fists against each other, oblivious to the disruption of the chaos.

What happened next was unforeseen and very, very surprising.

"Papa!" The child shouted. Macao raised his eyebrow–as far as he was concerned, no other members of Fairy Tail had children.

When nobody responded to the boy, he shouted once more, stomping his foot on the ground as if to emphasize his point. "Papa!"

No response.

The boy got a little bit more impatient, and decided to take matters into his own hands as he ran towards the two battling mages.

"Papa!"

This time, Natsu froze in his step and Gray halted his next attack, the two staring at each other before withdrawing their movements. Both mages looked at the boy as he sniffed, opening his arms and saying the only word he had been saying ever since he had arrived: "Papa!"

And then proceeded to launch himself on Gray.

The half-naked ice mage sputtered, blinking as he stared at the boy. Natsu had began laughing hysterically, "Gray, when did you have a child?!"

But before Gray could curse Natsu into oblivion, the child tightened his hold against him, burying his tiny face into his stomach. He glanced down, utterly clueless and at a loss for words.

"Kid," he said gently, ruffling the boy's locks. "I think you have the wrong person."

He looked at Juvia then (because for some reason, Juvia always knew what to do when it came to children), almost begging her to pry the boy off of him and do her thing. Juvia responded almost immediately, muttering her excuses to Gajeel, who had a rather amused look on his face.

"Gray-sama," she said once she was by his side, her gentle voice lightly pushing away his embarrassment, "Juvia thinks–"

"Mama!"

The water mage's eyes widen instantaneously, and she places a hand over her mouth to prevent the squeal that began to form in her throat. The child had extracted himself from Gray, tugging on the hem of Juvia's skirt as if asking for a hug.

Gray's jaw nearly dropped on the floor. Juvia had picked the boy up, her face as red as a tomato. He knew she was preventing herself from squealing in absolute delight because of the implications the boy had presented to her–the both of them, actually.

The guild slowly began to resume its state of normality as shouts erupted all over, the fire dragon slayer the loudest of them all as he fell to the ground in unsuppressed laughter. The iron dragon slayer's protests followed closely after, and Gray could vaguely make out the words, "Juvia!" "What the hell?" and "When the fuck did this happen?!" Erza was smiling almost knowingly and Lucy had joined Natsu on the floor as she laughed, dragging Happy along with her.

For a moment Gray stood there blankly, just taking in the scene in front of him. To say Gray was confused would be the understatement of the year. He was bewildered, perplexed, and surprised too.

"Why did you leave Silver alone, mama?" The child asked.

He spoke just like Juvia. His name was Silver.

Yup, that definitely was his son.

This was so not Gray's day.

I mean, sure, he liked (loved) the water mage and all. She was always there for him, through thick and thin. She loved him in a way no one else could. Which was why he couldn't tell her he returned how she felt.

Because everyone he ever loved went away

But now there was this boy calling her "mama," and looked just like him when he was a kid.

And as he watched her soothe the boy's tears with the kindness only Juvia could possess, he couldn't help but feel a little happy. Juvia would stay. She wouldn't leave him alone.

When she looked at him shyly, her dark blue eyes trying to avoid his gaze, he smirked.

"Give him here," he said, opening his arms and taking the young boy, allowing the child to lean on his shoulders.

Juvia's face was burning.

He could actually imagine the three of them like this, in the future. She would be by his side, and he would be by hers. She would be alive, looking at him with fondness and pride. A look only Juvia could give him.

For now, though, he had to figure out how to get his child back to the future.


End file.
